Boy's sentence for killing 80-year-old Bhim Kohli to be reviewed
He died the next day with a spinal cord injury and fractured ribs.
Last month, Mr Justice Turner sentenced a boy, aged 15, who punched and kicked Mr Kohli, to seven years in custody, and a 13-year-old girl, who encouraged the attack by filming parts of it while laughing, to a three-year youth rehabilitation order.
Both children, who cannot be named because of their age, denied their crimes but were convicted by a jury at Leicester Crown Court.
A spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office said the case will be reviewed under the unduly lenient sentence scheme.
The spokesperson said in a statement: 'The Solicitor General, Lucy Rigby KC MP, was appalled by this violent, cowardly attack on an innocent man.
'She wishes to express her deepest sympathies to Bhim Kohli's friends and family at this difficult time.
'After undertaking a detailed review of the case, the Solicitor General concluded the sentence of the 15-year-old boy could be referred to the Court of Appeal.
'The court will determine if the sentence is increased or not.'
Mr Kohli's daughter spoke of feeling 'angry and disappointed', adding that she believes their sentences do not 'reflect the severity of the crime they committed'.
In a statement after the sentencing hearing, Susan Kohli said: 'When they are released, they still have their full lives ahead of them. They can rebuild their lives. We can't.'
Mid Leicestershire MP Peter Bedford and the MP for South Leicestershire, Alberto Costa, wrote to the AGO last month asking for the sentences to be reviewed.
It is understood the sentence of the 13-year-old girl will not be referred to the Court of Appeal as the threshold had not been met.
A six-week trial heard that Mr Kohli's children found him lying on the ground in agony when he told his daughter that he had been called a 'P***' during the attack.
The boy said in his evidence he had a 'tussle' with Mr Kohli over his slider shoe before he slapped the elderly man with it out of 'instinct', which caused the pensioner to fall to his knees, but denied kicking or punching him.
In a letter written by the boy to a woman who had worked with him at the residential unit where he was being looked after, he wrote: 'I f****** hate what I did. I regret it so much.
'I have flashbacks of that day and it just upsets me. I kinda just needed anger etc releasing.'
The girl had filmed a series of video clips in which the elderly man was hit with the shoe by the balaclava-clad boy and another where Mr Kohli lay motionless on the ground.
She was heard laughing in the video clips which she kept in a passcode protected Snapchat folder.
In his sentencing remarks last month, Mr Justice Turner said: 'I am sure Mr Kohli did nothing at all to deserve what you did. What you did was wicked.
'You made a cowardly and violent attack on an elderly man.'
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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Teenage boy who killed elderly dog walker Bhim Kohli will NOT have his seven-year sentence for manslaughter increased - despite prosecutors claiming it was 'unduly lenient'
A teenage boy who killed elderly dog walker Bhim Kohli in a Leicestershire park will not have his sentence for manslaughter reduced, the Court of Appeal has ruled. Mr Kohli, 80, was punched and kicked, slapped in the face with a shoe and racially abused in an attack near Leicester, on September 1 last year, and died the next day. A balaclava-clad 15-year-old boy attacked Me Kohli while a 13-year-old female filmed and laughed. In June, the 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to seven years' custody in June. The girl was spared jail and instead handed a three-year youth rehabilitation order. Following the boy's sentencing, Lucy Rigby, the Solicitor General (SG), referred the case to the Court of Appeal under the unduly lenient sentence scheme. At a hearing on Wednesday, Lady Justice Macur, sitting alongside Mrs Justice Cutts and Mr Justice Murray, ruled that the boy's sentence was neither unduly lenient nor manifestly excessive. She said: 'We consider that the judge conscientiously executed the necessary sentencing exercise and conveyed his remarks to offender and co-defendant with great skill. 'We do not find that the sentence was unduly lenient.' Of the attempt to reduce the sentence, she said: 'The sentence was a very significant sentence and necessarily so. 'It is entirely warranted by the seriousness of the offence. It is unarguable that the sentence was manifestly excessive.' Paul Jarvis KC, for the SG, said that although the sentencing judge did not identify a high risk of death, he did say there was a high risk of very serious harm. He added: 'We say, if not unduly lenient, most certainly not manifestly excessive.' Balraj Bhatia KC, for the boy, told the court that Mr Kohli's frailty meant 'little or no force was required' to kill him. He said: 'Sadly, the vulnerability of the deceased's neck was such that had he spent a day on his beloved allotment and fallen accidentally, the result would have been the same.' Addressing Mr Kohli's family at the end of the hearing, Lady Justice Macur said: 'We wish to express genuine condolences to the family of Mr Kohli who have experienced such a devastating loss. 'The photographs which have appeared in the press accurately reflect what was obviously a sunny disposition and genuine enjoyment of life, his family, and all of that which he did. 'It is a loss that will be hard to bear.' Mr Kohli's grieving daughter Susan said shortly afterwards that she was 'disappointed' that the sentence will remain the same. The pensioner was attacked at Franklin Park in Braunstone Tow near Leicester on September 1 last year. The court heard that the girl encouraged the attack by filming parts of it while laughing, with video clips showing the balaclava-clad boy hitting Mr Kohli with a shoe. Another clip showed Mr Kohli lying on the ground motionless. The grandfather had been racially abused and left on the ground near his home before his family found him severely injured in the evening. He died in hospital the next day having suffered a broken neck and fractured ribs. The girl took a photograph of Mr Kohli on her phone the week before the alleged incident, but denied she used this to 'target' him, the trial heard. Police also recovered a video from her phone of a group of children 'confronting' an unknown man on a separate occasion, who was hit to the back of the head and called a 'P*** bastard' while she was heard laughing. During the trial, jurors heard the boy say in his evidence that he had a 'tussle' with Mr Kohli over his slider shoe before he slapped the elderly man with it out of 'instinct', which caused the pensioner to fall to his knees, but he denied kicking or punching him. In a letter written by the boy to a woman who had worked with him at the residential unit where he was being looked after, he wrote: 'I f****** hate what I did. I regret it so much. 'I have flashbacks of that day and it just upsets me. I kinda just needed anger etc releasing.' The pair were convicted of manslaughter and sentenced in June at Leicester Crown Court. Mr Justice Turner, who referred to the boy as D1 and the girl as D2, said what the pair had done was 'wicked' - and the pensioner 'did nothing to deserve' being attacked. He said to the pair: 'I am sure, D1, from the start you wanted to confront Mr Kohli, mainly because you were showing off to D2 - you knew she was watching and was likely to take films on her mobile phone.' The judge said to the boy: 'I am sure you knocked Mr Kohli to the ground and hit him with your sliders. I am sure Mr Kohli did nothing at all to deserve what you did. What you did was wicked. You made a cowardly and violent attack on an elderly man.' Mr Justice Turner added that evidence that Mr Kohli told his daughter he was called a 'P***' during the attack was right, but that evidence from their mobile phones did not show they held 'general racist views'. He said: 'It was a lazy but very hurtful insult.' Mr Justice Turner said the boy had decided in advance that he would be 'hostile' towards Mr Kohli, which was why he put his balaclava on before approaching him. He said: 'What you did was not one single attack which you immediately regretted, but two separate violent outbursts.' The judge said using his slider shoe as a weapon was 'more humiliating than dangerous' and that he was 'playing up to' the girl and her video recording. He said: 'I'm sure you regret he died because of what you did to Mr Kohli, but you still say it wasn't your fault. It was your fault and the sooner you realise this the better.' The judge also told the girl that a short custodial sentence would do more harm than good, given the impact on her education. Mr Kohli's grieving daughter Susan had previously spoken out about her disappointment at the sentencing as being too lenient. Standing on the steps outside Leicester Crown Court in June, she said: 'I feel angry and disappointed that the sentence... does not, I believe, reflect the severity of the crime they committed.' Solicitor General Lucy Rigby, who referred the sentence of Bhim Kohli's killer to the Court of Appeal under the unduly lenient sentence scheme, said she respects the court's decision not to change the sentence. In a statement after the hearing on Wednesday, she said: 'Bhim Kohli suffered an entirely unprovoked attack while walking his dog in his local park, the nature of which shocked the country. 'It was understandable that I received several requests under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme to consider his sentence. 'Following careful consideration, I concluded that the male offender's sentence should be referred to the Court of Appeal as it appeared unduly lenient. 'I respect the Court of Appeal's decision. My thoughts today are with Mr Kohli's friends and family, and everyone impacted by this horrendous crime.'
Metro
2 hours ago
- Metro
Teenager who killed elderly dog walker loses manslaughter appeal
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video A teenage boy who beat an elderly dog walker to death has lost his appeal to have his manslaughter sentence changed in the Court of Appeal. Bhim Kohli, 80, suffered a broken neck and fractured ribs after being kicked and punched by the balaclava-clad 15-year-old in Franklin Park, near Leicester, last September. Some of his last moments were filmed by the boy's friend, a 13-year-old girl, and show him being slapped with a slider, walking towards the park exit calling for help, and then lying motionless on the ground. The grandfather died in hospital the following day. Det Ch Insp Sinski said the boy had Snapchat accounts under two names – one boasting of his punching power and another referring to using a disguise. 'It was the prosecution case he revelled in his reputation as a hard man and his propensity to violence,' he said. 'So yes, social media did feature in this.' Mr Kohli's daughter said the teenagers had 'humiliated' her father in an 'utterly disgusting' attack. Susan Kohli said: 'Videos of the incident were filmed and shockingly found on the girl's phone. Dad did not deserve this, and we wouldn't wish this pain on anyone else. 'One of the videos showed dad on his knees being hit over the head with the boy's slider (shoe). A loud horrible slapping sound is heard when the boy struck dad. 'Hearing the girl laugh at this assault on dad is utterly disgusting. This sound plays over and over in our heads. 'Losing dad in these cruel, violent, and deeply shocking circumstances feels like our hearts have been pulled apart. We can't put into words the pain we feel every day, and this has magnified during the trial.' Ms Kohli described her father as a 'loving dad, grandad, brother and uncle' who was 'good fun to be around'. She said: 'He was the person who knitted our family together and we miss him every second of every day. Our home feels so empty without him and will never be the same.' MORE: Pregnant woman killed and partner's 'head cut off and put on spike' MORE: Woman's body dumped on side of the road after 'getting into car' in Birmingham MORE: Man charged after priest attacked with a bottle and second man killed
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Bhim Kohli's teenage killer will not have his seven-year sentence extended
A teenage boy who killed elderly dog walker Bhim Kohli in a park will not have his sentence for manslaughter changed, despite a review by the Court of Appeal. Mr Kohli, 80, was punched and kicked, slapped in the face with a shoe and racially abused in an attack in Franklin Park, Braunstone Town, near Leicester, on September 1 last year, and died the next day. The 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to seven years' custody in June. The Solicitor General (SG), Lucy Rigby, referred the sentence to the Court of Appeal under the unduly lenient sentence scheme. At a hearing on Wednesday, Lady Justice Macur, sitting alongside Mrs Justice Cutts and Mr Justice Murray, ruled that the boy's sentence was neither unduly lenient nor manifestly excessive. She said: 'We consider that the judge conscientiously executed the necessary sentencing exercise and conveyed his remarks to offender and co-defendant with great skill. 'We do not find that the sentence was unduly lenient.' Of the attempt to reduce the sentence, she said: 'The sentence was a very significant sentence and necessarily so. 'It is entirely warranted by the seriousness of the offence. It is unarguable that the sentence was manifestly excessive.' Paul Jarvis KC, for the SG, said that although the sentencing judge did not identify a high risk of death, he did say there was a high risk of very serious harm. He added: 'We say, if not unduly lenient, most certainly not manifestly excessive.' Balraj Bhatia KC, for the boy, told the court that Mr Kohli's frailty meant 'little or no force was required' to kill him. He said: 'Sadly, the vulnerability of the deceased's neck was such that had he spent a day on his beloved allotment and fallen accidentally, the result would have been the same.' The boy was convicted after a six-week trial in June at Leicester Crown Court, alongside a 13-year-old girl who also cannot be named. She encouraged the attack by filming parts of it while laughing, with video clips showing the balaclava-clad boy hitting Mr Kohli with a shoe. Another clip showed Mr Kohli lying on the ground motionless. The girl took a photograph of Mr Kohli on her phone the week before the alleged incident, but denied she used this to 'target' him, the trial heard. Police also recovered a video from her phone of a group of children 'confronting' an unknown man on a separate occasion, who was hit to the back of the head and called a 'Paki bastard' while she was heard laughing. The girl was sentenced to a three-year youth rehabilitation order by Mr Justice Turner, and her sentence was not referred to the Court of Appeal. Mr Kohli's children found him lying on the ground in agony, and he told his daughter he had been called a 'Paki' during the attack, the court heard during the trial. Jurors also heard the boy say in his evidence that he had a 'tussle' with Mr Kohli over his slider shoe before he slapped the elderly man with it out of 'instinct', which caused the pensioner to fall to his knees, but he denied kicking or punching him. In a letter written by the boy to a woman who had worked with him at the residential unit where he was being looked after, he wrote: 'I f****** hate what I did. I regret it so much. 'I have flashbacks of that day and it just upsets me. I kinda just needed anger etc releasing.'
